The Eyre Affair
The Eyre Affair is the first book in the Thursday Next series, followed by Lost in a Good Book. From the publisher's description: Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that's just a prelude... Hades' real target is the beloved Jane Eyre, and it's not long before he plucks her from the pages of Bronte's novel. Enter Thursday Next. She's the Special Operative's renowned literary detective, and she drives a Porsche. With the help of her uncle Mycroft's Prose Portal, Thursday enters the novel to rescue Jane Eyre from this heinous act of literary homicide. It's tricky business, all these interlopers running about Thornfield, and deceptions run rampant as their paths cross with Jane, Rochester, and Miss Fairfax. Can Thursday save Jane Eyre and Bronte's masterpiece? And what of the Crimean War? Will it ever end? And what about those annoying black holes that pop up now and again, sucking things into time-space voids... Characters in the book * Millon de Floss * Thursday Next * Colonel Next * Area Chief Boswell * Pickwick * Inspector Paige Turner * Mycroft Next * Polly Next * Stanford Brookes * Alexandria Belfridge * Sir Gordon Duff-Rolecks * Czar Romanov Alexei IV * Owain Glyndwr VII - President-for-life of the People's Republic of Wales * Lydia Startright * Lamber Thwalts * Milton Keens * Supreme Commander Gale * Anton Next * Landen Parke-Laine * Agent Fillip Tamworth * Acheron Hades * Braeburn * Chester * Agent Filbert Snood * Styx Hades * Agent Buckett * Edmund Capillary * Edward Rochester * Mr. Quaverley * Colonel Flanker * Mrs. Grimswold * James Backbiter * Jane Eyre * Pilot * Mycroft Next * Polly Next * Samuel Pring * Jack Schitt * Congresswoman Kelly * Colonel Phelps * Anton Next * Agent Victor Analogy * Agent Spike Stoker * Mr. Meakle * Mordacai * Margot Vishler * Emma Hamilton * Owens * Joffy Next * Liz Barrett-Browning *Arnold *Beany *Holroyd Wilson *Bowden Cable *Jim Crometty *Anna Bannon *William Wordsworth *Sergeant Ross *John Milton 496 *James Finisterre *Fisher *Helmut Bight *Malin *Sole *Graham Huxtable *Jeff Forty *Geoff Forty *Braxton Hicks *Mr. Delamare *Mr. Hobbes *Dr. Theodore Müller *Felix7 *Sturmey Archer *Officer Franklin *Frampton *Lola Vavoom *Ralph Swanavon *Thea Swanavon *Henry Grubb *Gladys Higgins *Emma Hamilton *Dr. Runcible Spoon *Mr. Rumplunkett *Christopher Sly *Mr. Glubb *Redmond Bulge *Adrian Smarts *Daisy Mutlar *Brawd Ulyanov *John Frost *Danny Chance *Samuel Orbiter *Mr. Europa *Augustus Ceres *Mrs. Trotswell *Chris - bartender at the Cheshire Cat *Colonel Rutter *DI Oswald Mandias *Dai Jones the Manuscript *Haelwyn the Book *Felix8 *Grace Poole *Bertha Rochester *Mrs. Fairfax *Pilot *Adele - Edward Rochester's ward *Mrs. Nakijima *Mr. Suzuki *Mary - one of Rochester's servants *Blanche Ingram *John - the husband of Rochester's cook *Mr. Mason - Bertha Rochester's brother *Foyle *Dr. Carter *Mr. Plink *Mr. Mutlar *Mrs. Mutlar *Mr. Briggs *Murray Posh *Helen Thursday Rochester *Ethel - Landen's aunt *Prefet Lavoisier *Friday Next (uncredited) *Bartholomew Stiggins Organizations in the book * SpecOps-12 * SpecOps-27 * SpecOps-5 * Baconians * SpecOps-1 * Toad News Network * Goliath Corporation * Light Armored Brigade * SpecOps-17 * Women's Federation * SpecOps-6 * The Most Worshipful Brotherhood of the Wombat *Marlovians *Raphaelites *Neosurrealists *Earthcrossers Society *Swindon Dodo Fanciers *Brontë Foundation Places in the book * Maida Vale * Stanford's cafe * Trafalgar Square, London * People's Republic of Wales * Gad's Hill Palace * LiteraTec offices * East End, London * Haworth House * SpecOps Memorial Cemetery, Highgate * Next family home * Mycroft Next's workshop * Finis Hotel, Swindon * The Cheshire Cat bar, Finis Hotel * Headquarters building, Swindon * Merthyr Tidfil, People's Republic of Wales * Ritz Theater, Swindon * Swindon Crucible, Swindon * Chichester * Wanborough * Todger's boarding house * Hollycroft Farm * Liddington Hill, Wroughton * Marlborough and Lambourn Downs * Brontë museum * Abertawe, People's Republic of Wales * Penderyn Hotel, Merthyr Tidfil * Thornfield Hall * Millcote * The George, Millcote * Ferndean * Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Lobsters * Landen's home Terms used in the book * The Mole * Stonk * Airship * Will-Speak machine * Owl on Sunday * Name That Fruit! - popular television show * New Splicer magazine * ChameleoCar * Rosettionery * Olfactograph * Olfactroscope * Retinal Screen-Saver * Splicense * HyperBookworms * HyperBookwormDoublePlusGood *Church of the Global Standard Deity (GSD) *''Jack Spratt's Casebook'' - television show *SmileyBurger *Prose Portal *Verse Meter Analyzer *Griffin motorcars *''The Gad-fly'' *''Fancy-free in Ludlow'' *''Today in Parliament'' *''Swindon Globe'' *Poet Writer General *Temporal distortion See also * Books by series * Books by publication date Category:Books